How to Reconcile DALK/PK Success Statistics with Anecdotal Internet Stories?

If you review the literature of DALK/PK, you’ll find that they have an incredibly high success rate.

But if you go online, such as Facebook or blogs, you see many who have problems. How can this be reconciled?

Here are some reasons, as I discussed with my Doctor.

Most people who have had the procedures just move on with their lives – they never bother to write or talk about it.

Many people searching for things online use negative searches.. such as “corneal transplant complications”… search engines are very good at delivering just what you want, so the list of search results presented will focus on negative stories.

I am not a psychologist, but it’s my opinion that many of these folks are needing to reach out and find sympathy for their problems. I’m not saying this is wrong – and I would like it if everyone had a support network – but with Keratoconus, the online world is the only network of sufficient size that you’ll find others who understand what you’re going through.

Some Keratoconus patients (especially young males!) are non-compliant – they skip their drops, ignore doctor recommendations, etc. This boggles my mind, but everyone has their own life situation to deal with. But they also skew down statistics since their outcomes are also included in surveys with equal weight as complaint patients.

I’m still 29 days away from my surgery – and it could go terribly. If so, I will post it here. But if it goes well, I will post it also, hopefully adding a bit of balance.

By way of the diary – I have had a few very good days with the scleral lens – but winter dryness still hurts. I went to see my dentist to see if I needed root canal on a troublesome tooth before the surgery. Lucky for me, he said no. I don’t really want multiple issues going on.